A while back I participated as a consultant in one of these types of grants and it was as a non profit community hospital and they work well and actually that is a really good place for these types of programs with community outreach.

I found and helped with the software and in this case instructing the IS department on how to install a SQL server at the hospital, but the over all effects with the program were nice with seniors interacting with students from Cal State helping with nutrition and eating habits. When you see the list, these are not IT related at all, but as I mentioned above with my participation, you have software that has to work with the program so in essence, there is some tech and Health IT funding in here. Below is a screenshot that shows a small sample. BD

WASHINGTON – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $68 million in grants to help seniors, the disabled and caregivers better understand and navigate their health and long-term care options.

“We know how difficult it can be for individuals and caregivers to deal with a sudden illness or chronic disease while at the same time trying to navigate through a complex healthcare system to figure out where to go to get appropriate help," said Sebelius. "The Affordable Care Act seeks to give people more control over their own care, while lowering healthcare costs and improving quality.”

Funds were available for states, area agencies on aging (aaa’s), State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs); Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) and tribal organizations through a competitive and formula process

Dark Arts of Mathemical Deception

Professor Charlie Siefe of NYU, a mathematician debunks clinical trials, and few other items to where data is spun and fools you, every day example, hear about the perfect butt algorithm and more. These are probably some things you have never thought about but again after listening to what he has to say, it’s time to think about being skeptical. Here’s a radio show that also talks about the same topics.

This video digs in a bit further with how fictitious business models are used by banks and companies do this too. The models are so complex that CEOs don’t even understand them. “Quants, The Alchemists of Wall Street will take you through how “math models” work at banks and financial institutions in a way that even the layman can understand. More videos like over at theAlgo Duping/Killer Algorithm Page. Bank of America will also tell you“IT’ is a business” how they make money.

Weapons of Math Destruction

This is a lecture where Kathy O’Neill, a former Quant who worked for a Hedge Fund (Weapons of Math Destruction) on Wall Street will tell you what is done with your retirement money and more. The banks and companies use technology to take advantage because they can. “Of course we are going to take advantage because our tools are our brains…if they could figure out a way to take advantage of pension funds they would, a good interview with explaining smart money and dumb money.

Algorithms Shape The World

This is a very good presentation done a TED Conference and really was the one that got everyone started thinking about algorithms and today it’s talked about a lot. As he says “if you’re an algorithm, life is looking pretty good, but can’t say the same for humans”. What is a black box? Nobody has any control over the flash crash. We have moved forward a bit but still we are writing the unreadable and lost the sense of some of what is happening. Nice plug for Nanex here with research.